Vital Business : The Essential Role of the Social Sciences in the UK Private Sector

Social science knowledge and skills are essential to business operations and development in a wide range of business sectors in the UK, according to a new report by the Campaign for Social Science and SAGE Publishing. Based on in-depth interviews with business leaders at Cisco, Deloitte, Royal Dutch Shell, Willis-Re, WSP and more, the report’s findings reveal that employees with social science training are often the operational enablers keeping businesses afloat - HR, accounting, finance, marketing and legal - and play key roles in facilitating and increasing business growth, product development, risk management and strategic planning. As the need for a post-pandemic economic recovery strategy becomes ever more urgent, and as government considers future and higher education, insights from Vital Business: The Essential Role of Social Sciences in the UK Private Sector are both timely and apt. Above all, the report demonstrates that social science subjects are vital for business and should be both welcomed and supported by government in the education system at school and university, alongside STEM disciplines, as essential to the workforce of today and tomorrow. VITAL BUSINESS - FRONT COVER 1 VITAL BUSINESS 2 COPYRIGHT 5 CONTENTS 6 INTRODUCTION 8 ABOUT THE CASE STUDIES 14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 16 CHAPTER 1 - CISCO 18 CHAPTER 2 - DELOITTE 26 CHAPTER 3 - DIAGEO 33 CHAPTER 4 - GUSTAFSON, PORTER + BOWMAN 41 CHAPTER 5 - IPSOS MORI 46 CHAPTER 6 - ROYAL DUTCH SHELL 57 CHAPTER 7 - WILLIS TOWERS WATSON 68 CHAPTER 8 - WSP 78